Devices for use in pump installations



'INVENTOR. FRANK N. SIES F N. SIES DEVICES FOR USE IN PUMP INSTALLATIONSFiled Sept. 8, 1961 Dec. 25, 1962 BY Mm, M fmf A TTORNE Y5.

atent 3,030,013- Patented Dec. 25, 1952 ice 3,070,019 DEVICES FUR USE ENPUMP INSTALLATIONS Frank N. Sies, Rte. 6, Westminster, Md. Filed Sept.8, 1961, Ser. No. 136,924

6 Claims. (Cl. 103-5) This invention relates to devices for use ininstalling jet pumps in subterranean drilled wells and to drilled wellsinstallations that involve such devices.

Jet pumps are extensively used for pumping water from relatively shallowwells which typically are about 25 to 120 it. deep and have bore holediameters of about -7 inches. Jet pump installations involve a surfacepump and pressure tank connected by means of lengths of pipe or tubingto a jet unit and foot valve positioned at or near the bottom of thebore hole.

Current practice in making pump installations as just described involvesthe use of semi-rigid plastic pipe having a wall thickness of about A;to inch and an outside diameter between about 1 and 2 inches. Suchplastic pipe is bendable, but rather stiff and is usually supplied tothe plumber or other pump installer in coiltorm. When the plastic pipeis uncoiled, it retains a certain amount of the bend acquired in thecoil form. Thus, when the necessary length of plastic pipe is unrolledfrom a coil, it will lie straight as long as it is held, but upon beingreleased, it has a tendency to coil right back into its original shape.When an attempt is made to feed the plastic pipe down into the borehole, the pipe tends to curve and run into the side of the walls of thebore hole, rather than go straight down into the well. Hence, when thejet unit and foot valve are fixed on the end of two lengths of suchplastic pipe, one serving as a down-comer and the other as a return, itis extremely difficult to get the jet unit, foot valve and plastic pipedown into the well because the jet unit and foot valve jam against theside wall, due to the curving action of the plastic pipe. Actually, itis not uncommon for plumbers making well installations of this type todamage, even to a state of unusability, jet units and foot valves duringthe feeding of the plastic pipe down the bore hole. Even if this feedingoperation causes no damage to the foot valve or jet unit, the difiicultyin placing the pipe and jet unit into the bore hole because of thecoiling tendency of the plastic pipe causes substantial loss of time andincreases the labor cost of making such jet pump installations.

A principal object of this invention is the provision of new deviceswhich may be used to aid in the fast and efficient installation of jetpumps in subterranean drilled wells. Further objects include:

(1) The pro-vision of a clamping device which may be used for installingsemi-rigid flexible tubing or pipe in a drilled Well to prevent thetubing from binding upon the walls of the bore hole as the tubing orpipe is lowered into the well.

(2) The provision of new jet pump drilled well installations in whichthe jet unit and depending foot valve are attached to sections ofsemi-rigid plastic pipe which are held in a straightened condition toprovide for free flow of liquid through the valve and jet unit andprevent damage to these components.

(3) The provision of new methods for installing jet pumps in drilledwells which permit substantial savings of time to be realized in theplacement of the components of the pump system within the bore hole ofthe well.

(4) The provision of new devices for use in making jet pumpinstallations to hold the jet unit upon the ends of the pipe or tubingwhich extends into the bore hole of the well to prevent the jet unitfrom being blown off the pipes by pressure in the system.

Other objects and further scope af applicability of the presentinvention will become apparent from the detailed description givenhereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detaileddescription, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, isgiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Referring in detail to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic fragmentary sectional side view of a jet pumpinstallation including a new device of this invention;

.FIG. 2 is a side view of the lower end of a jet pump installationprovided with a new device of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of the deviceshown in FIG. 2.

A jet pump installation in accordance with this invention comprises aclamping device 2, a surface pump unit 4, a jet unit 6, a depending footvalve 8 and a pair of plastic pipes 10 and 12 connecting the jet unit 6with the surface pumping unit 4.

The jet unit 6 has an upwardly extending inlet fitting 14 and outletfitting 16 and is connected to the foot valve 8 by threaded nipple 19which threads into the lower end 18 of the jet unit 6 and into the upperend 20 of the foot valve 8.

' The downcomer pipe 10 and return pipe 12 are fixed in their respectiveinlet and outlet fittings 14 and 16, by end threads, cement or the like.

The clamping unit 2 comprises a first clamping member 22 and a T-shapedsecond clamping member 24. The first clamping member 22 is formed of apair of ring portions 26 and 28 joined integrally with one another bythe mid-section 30. The hole 32 in the ring portion 28 is threaded toreceive the lower threaded end 34 of the metal pipe section 36. Theother hole 38 in the ring portion 26 is preferably unthreaded and maycarry a bushing 40 to permit the clamping member 22 to be used withseveral sizes of nipples which join the jet unit 6 to the foot valve 8.Clamping member 22 also carries in the ring portion 26 a set screw 42which is used to fix the member 22 on the nipple 19.

The T-shaped second clamping member 24 comprises three triangularlyspaced holes 44, 46 and 4S and this second member is split along thelocus 59 of the centers of the two holes 44 and 46, forming two secondclamping member sections 52 and 54. These sections 52 and 54 are clampedtogether about the plastic pipes to and 12 by means of the bolt 56 whichpasses through a hole drilled in the section 52 and is threaded into thesection 54.

In the form of the device shown in FIG. 3, section 54 t) of member 24carried a set-screw 53 by which the upper end at} of the pipe as may beheld in fixed position relative to the member 24-, with the pipe 36inserted through the hole 48 of the section 54.

In the modified form of the new device as shown in FIG. 5, the section54 of the second clamping member 24 has the hole 43 threaded and theupper end 6th of the pipe 35, in this case, is provided with threads 62sothat the second member 24 may be held in fixed position upon the pipe36 with respect to the lower or first clamping member 22.

When it is desired to install a jet pump in a drilled well withoutrunning into the ditficulty of having the jet unit and foot valve jamagainst the side walls of the bore hole as these components are loweredinto the well, the installation is made using the holding or clampingdevice of this invention. A section of metal pipe typically 26 ft. inlength and of pipe size corresponding to the holes 32 and 48 of theclamping members 22 and 24 respectively,

typically or 1 inch O.D. standard pipe, is cut and threaded at one endof a unit as shown in FIG. 3 is to be used, or threaded at both ends ita modified form as shown in FIG. 5 is to be used. This section of pipe36 is then threaded into the hole 32 of the clamping member 22 and withthe foot valve 8 removed from the nipple 19, the member 22 is slippedover the nipple 19 and fixed in this position by tightening of theset-screw 42. The foot valve 8 is then threaded back onto the nipple 19,joining it with the jet unit 6. Previous to this operation, lengths ofplastic pipe 10 and 12 would have been connected to the jet unit 6 bythreading or cementing the lower ends of these pipes into the inlet andoutlet fittings of the jet unit. The section 54 of the second clampingmember 24 is then slipped over the top end 60 of the pipe 36 so that thesemi-circular openings in the section 54 which define the holes 44 and46 contact the side of the plastic pipe in and 12. The second section 52of the clamping m mber 24 is then placed against the other side of the'c pipes 14} and 12 and clamped into position with bolt 56. Finally, theT-shaped clamping member 24 fixed upon the pipe 36 by tightening theset-screw 58.

When using the modified form of device shown in FIG. 5, this procedureis simply altered by first placing the section 54 of the member 24 uponthe upper threaded end of the pipe 36, so as to cause the semi-circularopenings the section 54 to contact the walls of the pipes 10 and 12. Theinstallation of the device 2 upon the jet pump unit isthen completed bypositioning of the section 52 on the other side of the plastic pipes andclamping sections 52 and 54 together by tightening of the bolt 56.

With the device 2 installed as described, the lower ends of the plasticpipes 10 and 12 will be held in a straightened condition throughout thelength of the metal pipe 3 With this arrangement, the jet unit 6, footvalve 8 and plastic pipes 10 and 12 can be lowered into the bore hole ofthe well rapidly and without any tendency of any of the elements on thelower end of the plastic pipes to jam against the walls of the borehole, slow down the installation or damage the components of the pumpinstallation.

I claim:

1. In a subterranean drilled well installation, the combination whichcomprises a surface pump, a jet unit and a depending foot valvepositioned in the bore hole of a drilled well, said jet unit havingupwardly extending inlet and outlet fittings, a first plastic pipeconnected to said inlet fitting and extending up the bore hole to saidsurface pump, a second plastic pipe similarly connected to said outletfitting, a nipple connecting said foot valve to said jet unit, a firstclamping member comprising a pair of ring portions formed integrallywith one another, a section of metal pipe between about 2 to 6 feet inlength, the bottom end of which is fixed in one of said ring portions,said nipple being fixed through the other ring portion, and a T-shapedsecond clamping member comprising three triangularly spaced holestherethrough, said T- shaped member being split along the locus of thecenters of two of said holes forming two sections of said T-shapedmember, said plastic pipes being clamped between said two sections whichare forced together by a bolt, upper end of said metal pipe sectionbeing fixed through the unsplit hole in said T-shaped member wherebysaid pias tic pipes are held in a straightened condition between saidfirst and second clamping members.

2. In a subterranean drilled well installation, the combination whichcomprises a surface pump, a jet unit and a depending foot valvepositioned in the bore hole of a drilled well, said jet unit havingupwardly extending inlet and outlet fittings, a first plastic pipeconnected to said inlet fitting and extending up the bore hole to saidsurface pump, a second plastic pipe similarly connected to said outletfitting, a nipple connecting said foot valve to said jet unit, a firstclamping member comprising a pair of ring portions formed integrallywith one another, a section of metal pipe between about 2 to 6 feet inlength, the bottom end of which is threaded into one of said ringportions, said nipple extending through the other ring portion and beingfixed in position by a set-screw, and a T- shaped second clamping membercomprising three triangularly spaced holes therethrough, said secondmember being split along the locus of the centers of the two holespositioned in the top of the T forming two sections of said T- shapedmember, said plastic pipes being clamped between two sections which areforced together by a bolt and the upper end of said metal pipe sectionextending through the unsplit hole in said T-shaped member and beingfixed thereon by a set-screw, whereby said plastic pipes are held in astraightened condition between said first and second clamping members.

In a subterranean drilled well installation, the combinationv whichcomprises a surface pump, a jet unit and a depending foot valvepositioned in the bore hole of a drilled well, said jet unit havingupwardly extending inlet and outlet fittings, a first plastic pipeconnected to said inlet fitting and extending up the bore hole to saidsurface pump, a second plastic pipe similarly connected to saidoutletfitting, a nipple connecting said foot valve to said jet unit, a firstclamping member comprising a pair ofring portions formed integrally withone another, a section of metal pipe, the bottom end of which is fixedin one of said ring portions, said nipple being fixed through the otherring portion, and a T-shaped second clamping member, the top of which issplit into two sections and the base of which has a hole therethrough,said plastic pipes being clamped between said two sections and the upperend of said metal pipe being fixed in said hole whereby said plasticpipes are held in a straightened condition between said first and secondclamping members.

4. A device for use in installing jet pumps in subterranean drilledwells comprising a first clamping member and a second clamping member,said first member comprising a pair of ring portions formed integrallywith one another and means for fixing tubular elements in each of saidring portions, said second clamping member being T-shaped and comprisingthree triangularly spaced holes therethrough, the second member beingsplit along the locus of the centers of two of said holes forming twosecond member sections, bolt means for clamping said two sectionstogether and means for fixing a tubular element in the unsplit hole ofsaid second member, and an elongated rigid columnar member which isfixed at one end into one of the ring portions of said first clampingmember and the opposite end of which is fixed into said unsplit hole ofsaid second clamping member.

5. A device for use in installing jet pumps in subterranean drilledwells comprising a first clamping member and a second clamping member,said first member comprising a pair of ring portions formed integrallywith one another, one of said ring portions being internally threadedand the other ring portion carrying a set-screw to fix a tubular elementtherein, said second clamping member being T-shaped and comprising threetriangularly spaced holes therethrough, the second member being splitalong the locus of the centers of the two holes positioned in the top ofthe T forming two unequal sized sections out of said second member, abolt which passes through the smaller of said two sections and threadsinto the larger of said two sections for clamping the two sectionstogether and a set-screw carried in the base of the T for fixing atubular element in the hole positioned in said 10 55 base, and a sectionof metal pipe threaded at one end into said threaded ring portion ofsaid first clamping member and fixed at the opposite end through saidunsplit hole by said base-carried set-screw.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein the unthreaded ring portion ofsaid first clamping member carries a bushing through which the set-screwin said ring portion passes.

No references cited.

